Still a long way to go before equality is a reality

Only when every child with a disability has the right to attend a mainstream school will real progress have been made in education, says Rachel Hurst, project director at Disability Awareness in Action.

The special educational needs and disability rights in education bill, announced in the autumn, aims to bring this goal closer. The bill sets out to eliminate discrimination and increase young people's access to mainstream education at all levels.

Under the new measures, local education authorities will have a duty to set up a parent partnership service to help solve disputes between schools and parents, strengthen the right to a mainstream school place and make changes to the appeal procedures of special educational needs tribunals.

In addition, "the bill envisages a new age, in which disabled students will be able to choose their university on the basis of the education provided rather than just the facilities that it has to accommodate disabled people," said Bert Massie, chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, welcoming the bill's announcement. The organisation has been charged with producing a code of practice to accompany the implementation of the legislation, early in 2002.

Children with special educational needs, including disabilities, have never had such a high profile within government. But there is still a yawning gulf between the opportunities made available to this group and those on offer to the majority of children.

For years, the education system has failed disabled people, who, whatever their age, are twice as likely as non-disabled people to have no qualifications.

It will take more than the placement of children with disabilities in mainstream schools to close the gap in opportunity, the Disability Rights Task Force pointed out in From Exclusion to Inclusion, published in December last year.

Inclusion is not just about attending a mainstream school, the report said - an inclusive curriculum is an equally important part of the mix.

A survey carried out by the Royal National Institute for the Blind last month highlighted the Task Force's concerns. Researchers found that many blind and partially sighted children in mainstream education were struggling to get the help they needed.

The respondents revealed they were often given educational materials, such as course books, in a format they couldn't read, rather than in large print, on tape or in Braille. More than 30% received test papers in an inaccessible form, and nearly half said their sight affected GCSE subjects they chose.

The Task Force report was taken on board by the government, and many of its recommendations are included in the bill. Schools, local education authorities, and further and higher education institutions will have new duties under the legislation, including taking reasonable steps to change policies, procedures and practices that discriminate against disabled children. They will also need to plan systematically to increase accessibility of schools for disabled children.

Meanwhile, there is mounting concern over the government's plans for revising the code of practice that guides local authorities and schools on meeting special educational needs.

Earlier in the year, ministers promised the new guidance would speed up statementing - the process where children's education needs are identified and assessed - by cutting unnecessary paperwork and simplifying review procedures. But the draft guidance has run into problems. Charities, including the Down's Syndrome Association (DSA), have accused ministers of watering down the guidelines by ending the requirement to specify in the statement how much extra help children with special needs should receive.

DSA chief executive Carol Boys said: "These rights are meant to be protected in law. But if the guidance explaining the law is not in place, parents cannot exercise their rights".

The government says the guidance is still under development and that it aims to strengthen, not dilute, the support available.